Conservation goals hampered

Much speculation preceded the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) in Doha last month with the bluefin tuna having the highest profile on the agenda. But Japan and other fishing nations inflicted defeat on the conservation countries led by the US and the EU that had wanted to ban the international trade in bluefin tuna. Monaco had proposed the ban on the basis of the dwindling numbers entering the Mediterranean to breed that are then hunted ferociously by fleets from many countries. Japan's victory, against the scientific opinion, not only raises the question of whether the bluefin can survive but also whether scientific opinion can prevail in preventing commercially valuable species from being obliterated. This decision overshadowed the meeting but other issues were aired. The meeting heard that the internet is also one of the greatest threats to rare species, fuelling illegal wildlife trade and making it easier to buy everything from live lion cubs to wine made from tiger bones. One success was the overwhelming support for a ban on the trade of the Kaiser's spotted newt, which the Worldwide Fund for Nature says has been devastated by an internet pet trade. The animal News focus lives in only limited areas of Iran and wild numbers have plummeted. One other success for conservationists at the meeting was the refusal to reverse the ban on trade in ivory stockpiles that had been sought by Zambia and Tanzania. Delegates at the meeting were concerned that the origin of these ivory stockpiles could not be confirmed. The meeting also highlighted the growing involvement of organised crime gangs in the trade of precious timber, caviar, rare plants, rhinoceros horn and tiger skins and bones. The trade was discussed by enforcement experts from Interpol, customs agencies and governments attending the meeting. But on another economically valuable species, the red coral, The meeting to control illegal trade in endangered species in Doha disappointed many researchers worried about the decline in numbers of several key animals and plants. Nigel Williams reports. Defeated: A proposal to regulate trade in red coral used to make jewellery was defeated at the Cites meeting. (Photo: Wolfgang Pölzer/Alamy.)